PET Scan: Neurology

In neurology, PET provides information for assessing various neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease. Additionally, it localizes epileptic foci for qualifying and identifying the site requiring surgical intervention. It also allows the characterization, grading and assessment of possible brain tumor recurrence (see previous section).

Dementia

Differentiate Alzheimer's disease from multi-infarct dementia.

Epilepsy

Localize the seizure focus in patients with intractable complex seizure disorders.

Stroke

Evaluate extent of disease and recovery following therapy.

References

Salmon, E., Sazot, B., Maquet, P., Degueldre, C., Rigo P., Comar, D., Franck, G., Differential Diagnosis of Alzheimer´s Disease with PET. Journal of Nuclear Medicine,(1994) 35:391-398. Hubner, K.F., PET Imaging in Neurology, Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology, Vol 18, number 4, December 1990.

For more information on how PET can be used in neurology, please see the literature summary by disease type.